My younger brother has been taking my scrawny ass with him to the gym for the past 4 weeks, after falling off the wagon and not lifting for almost 8 months. My bench max has almost graduated to 2 big plates, and I've learned the joys of working until failure. Also, Tire Flips are rad.

AngryGoldfish wrote:Going to buy some new weights for my home. What should I be looking for?

Fixed dumbbells?Plates that can be changed?

If you can get enough dumbbells to cover the ground in between you could get fixed, otherwise get plates that can be changed. money issue mostly.

Round plates or hexagonal plates?

round

What kind of barbell should I be looking at? What kind of weight should I be aiming for?

Preferrably an olympic barbell, 20 kg weight with the proper dimensions, if you can get it 2nd hand go for it. If you can stack 2 of each that'd be great (1 kg, 2,5kg, 5 kg, 10 kg, 15 kg, 20 kg) - it'll give you a proper ladder up to 120kg+.

I'm looking to get stronger, first and foremost, but I also would like to increase my metabolism and thus be able to maintain my current diet without gaining too much fat. Not sure if gaining strength as well as losing fat is possible. Some say it's possible, some say it's not. Either way I want to get stronger. I'm also doing cardio workouts and have lost fat. Even if I don't get that much stronger, my lifts will be improve and I will get fitter.

You can get stronger while losing fat, it's almost impossible to put on muscle AT THE SAME TIME as losing fat. If you are, you're zig-zagging. I think I might've covered this in my opening post.

vidret wrote:If you can get enough dumbbells to cover the ground in between you could get fixed, otherwise get plates that can be changed. money issue mostly.

The problem with removable plates is that each weight won't fit each exercise, which means I may have to add or remove plates throughout the workout. I've done this before and it's a real buzz kill. I don't like to stop. I hate interruptions like the phone ringing. I lose the momentum and get really pissy. Yesterday I kept being interrupted and started having a "cunt-this-fucking-bollocks-prick-wanker-fuckers-mother-shit" episode. I might be able to make it work if I plan the workout properly, though. One of the issues I can foresee, is when I'm doing shoulder presses, I won't be able to quickly move into side lateral raises 'cause the weight will be too much. So I'd have to find a way to make it all flow effectively. Or I could use my 8KG dumbbells that I have currently for those exercises.

Preferrably an olympic barbell, 20 kg weight with the proper dimensions, if you can get it 2nd hand go for it. If you can stack 2 of each that'd be great (1 kg, 2,5kg, 5 kg, 10 kg, 15 kg, 20 kg) - it'll give you a proper ladder up to 120kg+.

Is an Olympic barbell 7' wide? They're quite expensive for essentially being a metal pole. The plates on top of that are going to make this a really expensive project.

You can get stronger while losing fat, it's almost impossible to put on muscle AT THE SAME TIME as losing fat. If you are, you're zig-zagging. I think I might've covered this in my opening post.

Aim for strength and a proper diet, the rest will follow.

Yeah, you did mention that. I knew building muscle and losing fat at the same time was highly impractical, but I didn't know whether it applied to strength as well. I also completely forgot there was an OP that was full of excellent information.

My diet is OK. Like, I've been improving it gradually, but there is still a long way to go. I eat healthy foods, but I also eat too much carbohydrates and sugary foods like chocolate and crappy cereals. Late night snacking has and will always be my Achilles heal.

Hmm. What I'd do is probably this then (I can have the same kind of mental issues as you regarding the buzzkill) -

get dumbbells with removable plates, limit your exercises and use bodyweight movements to warm up.

So essentially if your day is gonna be shoulder pressing then you keep it on 15 kg or whatever, no messing around. You set it to 15kg (just guessing), do some pushups and get warm then off you go. If you really do need 2 different weights for 2 different exercises then so be it, but I'd suggest keeping to one weight for every exercise so it doesn't become a hindrance. Lat raises can be done just holding one of the weights in each hand (2,5kg or 5kg or whathaveyou) - no need to put it on the DB.

Yeah a full kit from a store is going to cost, buy second hand is really what I'm saying. I don't think those weights are olympic sized below 20kg (10 and 15 are too small to deadlift from the "correct" height).

Do a calculation. Can you get it for less than a year of gym membership (+gas/transportation?) = get a set for the barbell. if not, go gym.

vidret wrote:Hmm. What I'd do is probably this then (I can have the same kind of mental issues as you regarding the buzzkill) -

get dumbbells with removable plates, limit your exercises and use bodyweight movements to warm up.

So essentially if your day is gonna be shoulder pressing then you keep it on 15 kg or whatever, no messing around. You set it to 15kg (just guessing), do some pushups and get warm then off you go. If you really do need 2 different weights for 2 different exercises then so be it, but I'd suggest keeping to one weight for every exercise so it doesn't become a hindrance. Lat raises can be done just holding one of the weights in each hand (2,5kg or 5kg or whathaveyou) - no need to put it on the DB.

Sweet. I'll give that a try.

vidret wrote:Yeah a full kit from a store is going to cost, buy second hand is really what I'm saying. I don't think those weights are olympic sized below 20kg (10 and 15 are too small to deadlift from the "correct" height).

Do a calculation. Can you get it for less than a year of gym membership (+gas/transportation?) = get a set for the barbell. if not, go gym.

Watermelon's my thing lately. I'm off the cereals now for 3 months.

I'll figure out whether I can join a gym for cheaper. The problem is not necessarily the cost of the gym, but how far away the closest one is and my lack of transportation. I do have a friend who lives by me who's into lifting weights. We spoke before about joining a gym together and I could just go with him. If I offered petrol money, he might consider it again. It's just he has a family and is building his own home so money is probably tight. We'll see what I can do. I don't know whether I'd prefer to have the weights myself or have a gym membership. I guess if I had a gym membership then I could go swimming and have access to machinery as well.

I had a yellow melon the other day and it was gorgeous. Lasted for ages in the fridge as well.

So I decided to weigh myself this morning for the first time since I started working 4-5 times a week 30-60 minutes a day. And I'm still 180lbs. WTF?!! This is wrecking my head. I feel leaner. I feel like I look it. My clothes seem looser. What is going on? Is it just in my head? Maybe my diet is still not right. Fucking hate this shit.

AngryGoldfish wrote:So I decided to weigh myself this morning for the first time since I started working 4-5 times a week 30-60 minutes a day. And I'm still 180lbs. WTF?!! This is wrecking my head. I feel leaner. I feel like I look it. My clothes seem looser. What is going on? Is it just in my head? Maybe my diet is still not right. Fucking hate this shit.

AngryGoldfish wrote:So I decided to weigh myself this morning for the first time since I started working 4-5 times a week 30-60 minutes a day. And I'm still 180lbs. WTF?!! This is wrecking my head. I feel leaner. I feel like I look it. My clothes seem looser. What is going on? Is it just in my head? Maybe my diet is still not right. Fucking hate this shit.